Watching the World

Uniquely Nonpolitical

◆ During the last American presidential election, many church groups combined to form what they called a “Moral Majority,” which was said to have had a large influence on voting. According to the Houston Post, Baptist clergyman John McDonald, who represents the group in Houston, Texas, “said his group would approach each candidate for an interview and support the ones believed to best represent its creed” in upcoming local elections. “He said there are 800 persons and churches on his [Moral Majority] mailing list, including just about every denomination but Jehovah’s Witnesses,” reports the Post. Evidently the latter are unique in living up to Christ’s description of those truly his disciples: “They are no part of the world, just as I am no part of the world.”​—John 17:16.

“High” Education

◆ New students at Scotland’s Stirling University are given a handbook that suggests marijuana and amphetamines can be “fun” when used “sensibly.” The students’ association handbook, which contains a foreword by the university’s principal, says that when you use cannabis, “you feel relaxed, euphoric and perceptive.” It adds: “These delights are often mixed with moments of paranoia, confusion and lack of energy, each of which is a surprisingly enjoyable part of being ‘stoned.”’ According to The Scotsman newspaper, data on price, purchase locations and how to avoid arrest for possession are provided. The university information officer, Mr. Fergus Wood, reportedly declared: “The article is quite useful if it is accepted that drugs are a part of life today. It would be a sad day if universities couldn’t be liberal in what is now a liberal society.”

Mozambique Bans Prayer

◆ According to a report in the Chronicle of Zimbabwe, Africa, the Frelimo government has made it “unlawful in Mozambique for a mother to say prayers with her own child in her own home.” Yet, as the article notes, “the World Council of Churches gave huge sums of money to Frelimo” back when the churches thought the former Mozambique government “was a racist state and its people should be liberated.” The churches’ political dabbling has apparently backfired.

A Long-Term Aftermath

◆ Thirty-five years after two atomic bombs exploded over Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan, lives in these cities are still endangered. Authorities in Hiroshima claim that in the 12 months ending last August, 2,279 people in that city died of diseases related to the bomb. Professor Shunzo Okashima of the Medical School of Nagasaki says that, although the level of direct radiation is not considered dangerous, residents may be contaminated by traces of the toxic plutonium 239, which, he claims, will remain 24,360 years. Aside from posing a possible threat to health, Mr. Kenji Watanabe of the Nagasaki Social Welfare points out that “there is a widespread belief that radiation can cause genetic mutations and the victims and their children are often spurned as marriage partners.”

Unusual Survival Rations

◆ After earthquakes claimed thousands of lives, first in Algiers and then in southern Italy late last year, some survivors were found amid the rubble after considerable time. Six survivors in El Asnam, Algiers, had stayed alive nearly two weeks under debris of a collapsed café, subsisting on lemonade. And in Italy, three elderly people stayed alive for about 16 days in a freezing agricultural shed, consuming just hot peppers and wine stored in the shed.

Designed for the Job

◆ Premature infants fare better with not just breast milk but breast milk from the mothers of premature infants. Why? Canadian scientists in Toronto found that in important ways such milk is different from that of full-term mothers. Not only does it contain about 30 percent more fat, making “the premature infant better able to use the protein and other nutrients of breast milk for growth,” says the report in the Journal of the American Medical Association, but also “breast milk of mothers of premature infants has a higher nitrogen content​—available as protein, urea, and free amino acids—​than mature breast milk.” This is used rapidly to build tissue protein in the tiny preemies. How does the Journal account for such apparent wisdom? “It would seem that nature adapts mothers’ milk to meet infants’ needs.” “Nature”?​—Or the One who designed the human organism?

Link Between Vitamin Level and Cancer?

◆ Britain’s medical journal The Lancet has reported on a five-year study that links cancer with a vitamin deficiency. The study involved 16,000 men. It pointed up the fact that those with the lowest levels of vitamin A in their blood were twice as likely to become cancer victims as those with higher levels. The link was especially noticeable with cancer of the lung, stomach and intestines. The discovery may result in a new method for detecting people who are cancer risks. It suggests that if those with abnormally low levels of vitamin A were encouraged to eat the right foods, it could help to reduce cancer. Carrots, liver, eggs and dairy products are good sources of vitamin A.

Diabetes Control

◆ A report from a division of the U.S. National Institute of Health claims that most diabetics, and especially those who are overweight, can learn to control their disorder and reduce their suffering. The system: A combination of weight reduction, sensible exercise and controlled carbohydrate diet. As has been known for some time, the greatest incidence of the condition is likely to occur in those whose family line has a history of diabetes, and if they are also obese the risk is further increased. Losing those extra pounds could prevent, or at least delay, the onset of the disease.

A second recommended step involves exercise, since it aids a person’s own insulin in reducing blood sugar. As to the third step, diet, a representative of the Canadian Diabetic Association recommends “eating more complex carbohydrates (whole grain cereals, bread and starchy vegetables) rather than simple sugars (refined sugar, sweetened fruit, fruit juices, milk and certain vegetables like peas and carrots) because complex carbohydrates are absorbed at a slower rate than simple sugars.” Carbohydrate intake should be spread out over the entire day, in two or three small meals, it was suggested.

Buying Food and Drink Worldwide

◆ Though Americans complain of rapidly rising food prices, they spend less of their income on food than people in any other nation. Recent United Nations figures show that food accounts for only 13.6 percent of personal spending in the U.S., compared to almost 60 percent in India, 34 percent in the Soviet Union and 23.3 percent in Japan. The U.N. report also reveals that people in Catholic Ireland spend almost half as much on alcoholic beverages as they do on food​—12.6 percent of income compared to 26.7 percent. Hungary and Poland rank next in spending on alcohol at over 11 percent of income, while spending about 30 percent on food. Soviets spend 9 percent of income on alcohol, Japanese and West Germans 3 percent, and Americans 1.4 percent.

Fare Cheating to St. Peter’s

◆ According to Il Giornale of Milan, Italy, there is a lot of fare cheating on Rome’s transit system. Each year it involves from 1.5 to 7 million streetcar and bus passengers, and an amount as high as $840,000 (U.S.). The fare is 12 cents, and “many of the free riders are foreign,” said the newspaper. Fare cheating is highest on Wednesday, papal audience day, and the busiest routes are those to St. Peter’s Church.

The King’s English​—Best?

◆ British linguist professor Geoffrey Leech has used a computer to compare British and American publications for proper use of English. Surprisingly, in his comparison of a million words, the professor found that American writings tended to use better English than those in England. “The British tend to assume they are the guardians of the language and we let the language take care of itself,” he observed. “The evidence is that the Americans are more careful than we are.” Leech also noted that English spoken in the two nations is “getting closer together. We are imitating you.”

Crisis in Priesthood in Brazil

◆ A survey made by the Center of Religious Statistics and Social Investigations, an organ connected with the Catholic Church, reveals that from 1960 to 1963​—prior to the opening made by Vatican Council II—​80 priests left the priesthood in all of Brazil. That is an average of 20 per year. With the easing of the requirements for dispensation, this number increased to 2,116 for the next 12 years. That is an average of 176 per year. The reasons given for leaving the priesthood vary: for some it was a conflict with the very structure of the Church, whereas for others it was the continued imposition of celibacy. According to a report in the Jornal do Brasil, the majority prefer to keep secret their former position as a priest, it being “considered almost a stigma in the social environment.”

Mummies off Display

◆ Since 1881 the Cairo Museum has had on display the mummies of 27 ancient Egyptian pharaohs, but now visitors to the museum have been banned from seeing them. This is because President Sadat has ordered that the mummies eventually be buried as a gesture to Islam. The mummies will be reburied in their original tombs in the Valley of the Kings or buried collectively in a special chamber.

Government Decisions

◆ Why do so many of the decisions governments make seem to go wrong? One reason may be that noted by columnist G. K. Reddy in India’s The Hindu: “Many [government] Ministers have come to grief by blindly following the advice of their astrologers instead of relying on their own better judgment in critical moments.” No doubt the same could be said of government leaders in many other lands.

Homosexual Violence in Prisons

◆ According to a U.S. federal prison administrator, the leading cause of killings in prisons is homosexual activity. Peter L. Nacci, Ph.D., reported that, in an investigation of eight homicides during a 26-month period at Lewisburg Penitentiary, five were found to be motivated by homosexual activity. He added that 25 percent of 37 other assaults at this prison were related to homosexual activity.

Korean Weddings Trimmed

◆ Implementing the Republic of Korea’s current campaign to encourage thrift, the Social Affairs Ministry has decreed that lavish weddings are out. A possible one-year prison term and fines of up to one million won ($1,560, U.S.) can be exacted if a bride spends more than 830,000 won ($1,300) on her marriage. Among other things, guidelines from the Ministry limit brides’ purchases for the groom to no more than one pair of shoes and one suit. Careful laundering of her old wardrobe is advised rather than purchase of new clothing.

Largest Avalanche

◆ When Mount St. Helens erupted on May 18 of last year, it set off an avalanche on its north face that is now said to have been the largest in recorded history, according to the United States Geological Survey. The avalanche had a volume of 2.8 cubic kilometers (.67 cu. mi.) of material, enough to cover an area larger than downtown Portland and deep enough to have buried the city’s 40-story First National Bank Tower.

U.S. Oil Imports Down

◆ The Department of Energy disclosed that during the first 10 months of 1980, U.S. imports of crude oil and petroleum products plunged 31.8 percent below the 1979 levels. Analysts believed that the reasons for such a big drop were the recession, more fuel-efficient automobiles and rising prices.